forsyth tech's foundation powers excellence

in this issue:cardboard & duct tape ~What Floats Your Boat

a reasonable facsimile ~Where’s the Fire?

yes she can ~Professor Krishauna Hines-Gaither

forsyth tech’s foundation poWers eXcellence

Open Minds

and

Open Doors

Begin with

Open Books

Spring/Summer 2010 I www.forsythtech.edu I 1

Forsyth Tech welcomes diversity and is dedicated to meeting the needs of students with disabilities, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. For more information, please contact Sarah Hawks, Coordinator, Disabilities Services Office, at 336.734.7155 or [email protected].

Forsyth Tech is proud to be part of the North Carolina Community College System, with 58 institutions serving more than 800,000 students annually. North Carolina Community Colleges are creating success in our state by:• Offering hope for a better future through vocational training and education• Providing opportunity by making higher education available to all citizens• Generating jobs by creating a skilled workforce for business and industry

From the President I Managing GrowthDr. Gary M. Green

All business leaders know that while growth is devoutly to be desired and pursued, managing growth is a challenge. It’s a challenge we at Forsyth Tech continue to grapple with, as enrollment increases each semester. I would like to commend our faculty and staff for how well they are accommodating the increased

demands on them. Our people have been called upon to contribute more, and they have stepped up to the plate. The good and encouraging thing about this surge in enrollment is the amount we have been able to do to help people weather this prolonged recession. As several individuals commented in our cover story, The Wind in Our Sails, the silver lining in this economic downturn is the chance for thousands of people to learn the skills that will be needed in the 21st century. And as those business leaders have also noted, Forsyth Tech has been amazingly nimble in developing and staffing a number of training programs that lead to jobs that actually exist in this community. The 12 in 6—which stands for 12 training programs that can be completed in 6 months— quickly turned into something like 16 in 6, and those people are finding employment. We’re proud that Forsyth Tech is the state leader in short-term job training, through the federally funded JobsNOW initiative. The Forsyth Tech Foundation, subject of our cover story, is a hero in our ability to manage rapid growth. More than ever, we are seeing students who simply can’t get the training they desperately need without scholarship assistance. In many cases, these students are adults, often parents, and are working one or more jobs while they go to school. Providing scholarships is a primary purpose of the Foundation. The Foundation also helps us attract and retain the kind of faculty we must have to prepare students for the marketplace. Grants from the Foundation are available to enable our instructors to attend conferences in their fields, and have the professional development and educational experiences that keep them on the cutting edge. And the Foundation supports purchases of technology and equipment that ensure our students will be ready to work in their chosen fields. Our first capital campaign, the Momentum Campaign, has been another success for the Foundation, exceeding its goal of $13 million. Much of this amount will go to expanding our facilities for emerging technologies programs—a growing and critical component of the education we provide. As Forsyth Tech begins a year long celebration of 50 years of service to the community, we are thankful for the community support we receive and committed to our role in creating a vibrant future for our citizens.

For 50 years, Forsyth Tech has been opening doors of opportunity for thousands of people in our community. Your support, through The Foundation

of Forsyth Tech, maintains this vital mission.

www.forsythtech.edu/support

Open Minds

and

Open Doors

Begin with

Open Books

7 { On the CoverWhat gives Forsyth Tech the margin of excellence that our community and local employees have come to depend on? That would be private donations and grants, all raised and dispersed through The Foundation of Forsyth Tech. Donors, students, faculty and board members describe the dramatic difference this support makes to the quality of education and the success of students.

24 { Forsyth Tech Turns 50 A year of special events is in the works to celebrate Forsyth Tech’s half century of service to our region. What’s missing? Your memories and photos. Find out how you can help make history.

26 { Where 911 Goes to Learn How do the firefighters get to the top floor of a burning building? How fast does a kitchen fire spread? How do you get a wounded passenger out from under a wrecked vehicle? Textbooks can’t convey what first responders need to know, but our new Emergency Services Training Center is a potent teacher.

30 { Alumna Spotlight We tend to remember the major turning points in our lives. For Krishauna Hines-Gaither, a professor at Salem College, the “Aha!” experience came in an introductory Spanish class at Forsyth Tech.

2 Honor Roll

6 Spring Graduations: 4 Paths to Success

16 Take It From Tech: Yoga Instructor Teresa Hicks

18 Who Works Here: Campus Police Chief Renarde Earl

19 Who Goes Here: Detective Daniel Clark

20 Well Rounded: Our Employees Never Stop Learning

22 The Cardboard Boat Regatta: An Engineering Tradition

33 Why I Support Forsyth Tech: Bryce and Izoria Gordon

seeing this issue of Tech Quarterly come together, the editors noticed a strong police presence throughout the magazine. It was a surprise to find out that Teresa Hicks, the yoga teacher featured in Take It From Tech, is a retired Winston-Salem Police Department captain. Detective Daniel Clark (Who Goes Here) is now a local—and national—hero, but he came to the attention of the Tech Quarterly writers after the injuries he suffered in that fatal shooting at Bojangles last October temporarily kept him from attending his Forsyth Tech classes. Our Director of Campus Police, Renarde Earl (Who Works Here), is also a veteran of the local police department, and that is part of the valuable experience he has brought to us for more than seven years. And then there’s the opening of the long-awaited Emergency Services Training Center at our Northwest Forsyth Center. It’s bringing state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to the training of not only firefighters and EMS workers, but to our own law enforcement students, area police and sheriff’s departments. We’re proud of all our connections with the people who keep us safe.

26

7

Contents

30

16

24

Vol. 3, Number 2 I Spring/Summer 2010

cops hiding here.Lots of

Public Safety at

2 I www.forsythtech.edu I Spring/Summer 2010 Spring/Summer 2010 I www.forsythtech.edu I 3

The Honor RollThe Honor Roll

’

A Command PerformanceA group of students from the Forsyth Tech compensatory education program, located at and conducted in partnership with the Stokes Opportunity Center in Walnut Cove, performed at the Governor’s Independence Day celebration. The event was held in July on the grounds of the State Capitol complex, and the students sang patriotic favorites under the direction of instructor Kristine Jonczak and Paul Kindley, Stokes County Coordinator for Adult Literacy & ABE/GED.

The Best Gets BetterAs reported in these pages, ForsythTech.edu won Gold in the website category in the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) 2009 District 2 Medallion Awards. As good as the website was, users saw room for improvement, and on May 17 a revamped ForsythTech.edu went live. Among the new features is a section devoted to Admissions and Registration—a much requested addition— that includes a “Getting Started” area to help first-time visitors quickly find the information they need. The new site also lists credit programs in multiple formats to provide a better user experience, provides an easy-to-use A-Z index, and offers a “Find What You’re Looking For” section that allows visitors to easily identify the path they need to take to reach their personal goals. We invite you to take some time and explore the new site for yourself, and discover even “More Than You Know” about Forsyth Tech. See our award-winning website at www.ForsythTech.edu.

Wendy Emerson Selected as a Woman of VisionWendy Emerson, Vice President, Business Services, was chosen as one of the YWCA of Winston-Salem’s “Women of Vision” for 2010. Wendy was recognized at a ceremony held May 13 at the Benton Convention Center.

Ready for AnythingForsyth Tech senior nursing students participated in a disaster drill on April 7 at Forsyth Medical Center. The drill simulated a severe weather situation involving loss of power and extensive property damage, and was designed to prepare the students for dealing with such events by creating as realistic a scenario as possible.

UNCG Award for Dr. Bonnie PopeThe UNCG School of Education honored Dr. Bonnie Pope, Director of Nursing, with a 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award in the area of Outstanding Achievement. Bonnie Pope received her doctorate in educational leadership from the School of Education in 2008 after previously earning a master’s degree in nursing from UNCG.

Print Industry Picks Students in the Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology program recently won several awards in the Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc. (PICA) student competition. Jessica Burgos won two Best of Category awards, Jenna Paramore won a Best of Category and a Special Judges Award, and Jose Sosa won an Award of Excellence. Jenna was also awarded a PICA/Treadway Scholarship in the amount of $1,000.

See What She Can DoChristina Ware, a student in the Business Administration program, was the winner of a contest to design a T-shirt for Forsyth Tech’s Spring Fling celebration in April. What makes this a truly amazing accomplishment is the fact that Christina is blind!

ADN Faculty Collaborate on Journal Article Dr. Marie Thomas, Lead Instructor, Associate Degree Nursing; Susan Baker, Instructor, Associate Degree Nursing; Dr. Bonnie Pope, Director, Nursing; Linda Latham, Program Coordinator, Associate Degree Nursing; and Francoise Houenou Mededji, Instructor, Associate Degree Nursing, recently collaborated on an article that was published in the April 2010 issue of Teaching and Learning in Nursing. The article, titled “The focused client care experience: preparing for entry-level practice,” describes the development of an Associate Degree Nursing-focused client care experience in the community college setting.

National Recognition for Initiatives The MetLife Foundation presented Forsyth Tech with a $20,000 Community College Excellence Award. Forsyth Tech was chosen for its work in offsetting job losses in the region by attracting resources and building partnerships to educate a biotechnology workforce. The Foundation pointed out that Forsyth Tech had been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor’s High Growth Job Training Initiative as one of five community colleges in the nation to house the National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce, and cited the college’s partnership with Wake Forest University Medical Center to train technicians for research labs that employ more than 1,600 scientists.


The Honor RollThe Honor Roll

’

WWII Vets Will Fly on LemonadeMaryanna Richardson, Instructor, Communications & Humanities Department, helped raise more than $1,300 to support Triad Flight of Honor, which recognizes World War II veterans by providing them with day trips to Washington, DC, to visit the World War II memorial. Incredibly, Maryanna raised the money by operating a simple lemonade stand with her children and a few friends.

The Smoke Stops Here Signs like these are informing visitors to all Forsyth Tech campus and center locations that smoking is no longer permitted in any building or on grounds owned or used by the college as of August 15. The goal of this new policy is to have healthier students, faculty and staff, resulting in lower health costs and less time away from class due to illness.

Thank You, Your HonorThis spring, Forsyth County Superior Court Judge L. Todd Burke visited Forsyth Tech to participate in a panel discussion on Legal Issues in Domestic Problems. The Student Voices Organization and the James A. Rousseau II Minority Male Mentoring Program hosted the event.

Bond Referendum Wins – Again!In 2008, Forsyth Tech’s Bond Referendum marketing campaign convinced voters to give the school funds for a needed expansion. Now that campaign has swayed yet another set of voters. On March 16, the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR) gave the campaign a Silver Paragon Award in the category of Government Relations or Community Relations Project. The Paragon Awards recognize outstanding achievement in communications at community and technical colleges and is the only national competition of its kind.

Alumnus Steve Plemmons Is Honored Steve Plemmons, owner of Bill Plemmons RV World, was named the Forsyth Tech Distinguished Alumni for 2010. Steve, who was profiled in the Summer 2008 issue of Tech Quarterly, graduated from Forsyth Tech with a degree in Automotive Systems Technology and has been a longtime supporter of the school. For many years he has allowed Forsyth Tech to use the facilities of Bill Plemmons RV World as a “campus” for the Recreation Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technology program, which he helped found. He also serves on the school’s Alumni Association Board.

Transportation Is on the MoveForsyth Tech’s transportation technology programs—Autobody Repair, Automotive Systems Technology, Heavy Equipment and Transport Technology, Recreational Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technology, and Richard Childress Race Car Technology—are getting a new home. Construction on the new Transportation Center began in June, and classes are expected to begin there in January 2012. The new Transportation Center is located on Patterson Avenue at the former site of the Pinebrook Shopping Center. The funds to purchase the shopping center and create the Transportation Center are part of a bond package approved by voters in 2006.

A Job Well DoneGeorge McLendon retired in May as Director of Recruiting at Forsyth Tech after spending more than 40 years at the school. Before becoming Director of Recruiting, George was Director of Admissions, and before that a guidance counselor. He was also an adviser to the James A. Rousseau II Minority Male Mentoring Program for many years. The Forsyth Tech community thanks George for his many contributions to the college and wishes him a wonderful retirement!


Cover Story

The Wind in Our SailsForsyth Tech’s FoundationPowers Excellence

6 I www.forsythtech.edu I Spring/Summer 2010

Graduation Roundup

Four Paths to SuccessSpring Graduations 2010

The Nth Degree Dr. John McConnell, Chief Executive Officer of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, spoke to the college’s credit graduates at commencement on May 13. Dr. McConnell spoke of the American Dream and urged graduates to reach their highest potential. In all, 1,129 students earned degrees, diplomas and certificates in 2010, an increase of 6 percent over 2009. Graduation for credit students was held at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and more than 4,000 friends and family—a 25 percent increase over last year’s non-student attendance—cheered the graduates on.

Rite of Spring The speaker at this year’s Associate Degree Nursing Pinning Ceremony was Paul M. Wiles, CEO of Novant Health and the man for whom Forsyth Tech’s School of Nursing was named. The ceremony was held May 4 in Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest campus.

Never Too Late Forsyth Tech’s GED/Adult High School graduation was held May 20 in Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University. The graduating class included 224 GED students, 33 of whom graduated with honors, and 69 Adult High School students. Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines challenged graduates to recognize and respond to opportunities, live an intentional life, be a lifelong learner, live a life of caring, and find a career they loved.

Ready to Work Forsyth Tech’s second JobsNOW graduation was held May 26 in the school’s West Campus auditorium. Dr. Scott Ralls, President of the NC Community College System, delivered the commence-ment address. Approximately 700 students were eligible to receive certificates. Forsyth Tech continues to lead the state in the number of students enrolled in JobsNOW. Of the more than 11,900 students enrolled in JobsNOW programs throughout the state’s community college system, more than 1,600 of those are enrolled at Forsyth Tech. The 293 JobsNOW graduates received certificates from 11 different JobsNOW programs. Despite a challenging job market, 60 percent of this graduating class had already secured employment by the time they graduated.

More than 1,700 students graduated from Forsyth Tech this spring in four separate ceremonies. These students leave Forsyth Tech having completed work in our credit, JobsNOW, GED/AHS or Associate Degree Nursing programs. Some will begin new careers, while others will continue their education. But whatever path they choose, they all have one thing in common—their Forsyth Tech degree will offer them the opportunity to succeed.

N ot so long ago, the idea that Forsyth Technical Community College needed private support was entirely foreign. Members of the public didn’t see it. At one Forsyth Tech fundraising event, a business leader asked, “Don’t my tax dollars fund you?” A staff member, knowing that this businessman had graduated from a four-year public university, replied, “Don’t some of my tax dollars go to your alma mater?” Members of the college community itself didn’t see it. When one grateful alumnus sent in a check, it was returned with a thank-you note. The college didn’t know what to do with a private donation. Now, thanks to the work of the Forsyth Tech Foundation Board of Directors, President Gary Green, Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr. Sharon (“Shari”)B. Covitz, and the dozens of energetic and committed community leaders who have served on the Foundation board, it is widely understood that gifts and grants above and beyond state support are the keys to our community college’s ability to fulfill its mission. Since it was reactivated in 1997, the Foundation has raised more than $30 million. The Foundation was established in 1974 for the purpose of raising money to build Snyder Hall on the Main Campus. After that, it was essentially dormant for more than 20 years. It might be said that it was ahead of its time. “Some of the first major fundraising for community colleges started in the 1990s,” said President Gary Green. “That was a generation behind fundraising for public universities.” When Shari Covitz was hired in 1997, one of her tasks was to reactivate the Foundation. “When Dr. Desna Wallin became president, she and the trustees saw the writing on the wall,” Shari said. “There was no way the state was going to continue to fund the growth of community colleges.” Dr. Covitz had the requisite knowledge; she had recently established a foundation for the local hospice. Still, she said, getting people to understand why a community college needs private dollars was an uphill battle. And that uphill climb started internally. She was surprised that many of her colleagues on the faculty had such low expectations. They seemed to think that making do with cast-off equipment from local hospitals and corporations was the best they could expect. “Well, not where I come from,” Dr. Covitz said. “Slowly but surely, we got the faculty to understand, and corporate donors to understand, that if we want our graduates to be ready to work, they have to be trained on current equipment.” Equipment and technology are some of the main purposes to which Foundation dollars are put. The other primary purposes are student scholarships and faculty and staff development. “The tuition here is low, but community colleges serve people who have the least means,” President Green said. “Sometimes they are the first generation in their family to go to college; sometimes they are parents and single parents, working people. We can’t keep up with technology if we don’t supplement government funds, and we must support professional development because we want our students to be prepared and productive on Day One. And we have to compete in the marketplace for faculty.” “Universities rely on their alumni for support,” President Green noted. “Community colleges tend to rely on the employers of their alumni. We are first and foremost a community college, and our support comes from the community. Community colleges can point to a very direct return on investment in terms of the economic growth and vitality of the community.”


Cover Story Cover Story

Forsyth Tech kicked off its first capital campaign in 2005. The Momentum Campaign was one of the first community college capital campaigns in the state, and it set what many people considered an unrealistic goal—$13 million. “We worked with great fundraising counsel, and after the interviews for the feasibility study, Dr. Green went back to all 65 of those people,” said Dr. Shari Covitz, the Foundation’s Executive Director. In those talks, President Green talked about how integral Forsyth Tech is to the infrastructure of Forsyth and Stokes counties, and how important the school is to the future of our community. He pointed out that 75 percent of the school’s graduates stay and work here. Ed Welch, President of I. L. Construction Co. and Dr. Donald deBethizy, founder and CEO of Targacept, were chosen to co-chair the campaign, which has exceeded its $13 million goal. “I didn’t know what to expect,” said Don deBethizy. “I’d been selling a value proposition for a long time for my company, but here I would be asking for money for something I wasn’t as familiar with. I realized we needed to put together a value proposition. You have to do that whenever you raise money, and it was especially critical since this was the first- ever capital campaign for Forsyth Tech.” He, President Green, Ed Welch and Shari Covitz worked very hard in crafting their message for their first call, which was on Steve Strawsburg, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Reynolds American. “We determined that about 11,000 Reynolds American employees had received training at Forsyth Tech, and we estimated what the value of that was to the company,” Dr. deBethizy said. “When we reported that to Steve, he said, ‘My God, this is a business proposition, not a handout’.”

How to Build Momentum

Raising money for Forsyth Tech is a little different than getting support for many of the established good causes in town, Dr. deBethizy points out. “With traditional givers, most of them have not had personal experience with two-year colleges. And people who have had that experience often did not grow up in a philanthropic culture. We had to show them why a community college needs private dollars and what a valuable investment it is. “The other big selling feature is Dr. Gary Green himself. Leaders like Gary Green only come along once in a while. You have to invest in them when they do come along because they can get so much done. All the people I talked to knew Gary, and how determined and visionary he is, so that was an easy sell.” The Momentum Campaign will be wrapped up soon, and much of the money raised will go to creating a center for emerging technologies in Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem. Both Ed Welch and Don deBethizy now serve on the college’s Board of Trustees.

Way

s an

d M

eans “I wasn’t looking for another job,”

said Don deBethizy. Running his start-up company, Targacept, was really all the challenge he needed. “I was on the Foundation board, and Gary asked me to go along with him for a meeting with Andy Schindler, the CEO of Reynolds American,” Dr. deBethizy remembers. “My assumption was that he was going to ask Andy for something. When we were in the lobby, I asked Gary who was going to do the ask, and what we were asking for. “He seemed evasive, which isn’t like him at all. “Well, he’d set it up that Andy would ask me to co-chair the capital campaign. Andy had promoted me at Reynolds, and I worked with him to spin off Targacept. I couldn’t say no to Andy, and Gary knew that.”

Dr. Donald deBethizy, Co-chair, Momentum CampaignDr. Gary M. Green, President, Forsyth Technical Community College



Some of the most passionate advocates and effective fundraisers for Forsyth Tech are individuals who know intimately the power of education to transform a life. One is Thomas Ingram, the immediate past president of the Foundation board, and Director of Facilities Planning and Construction for Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Tom Ingram spent his early years in public housing in Newark, New Jersey. His mother had dropped out of high school. After she had borne four children, she went to a community college where she got her GED and took secretarial courses. Tom, the oldest child, was in junior high when his mother was in school. “It was a way out of the ghetto for our family, the means to a better way of life,” he said. “That education allowed my mother to get a better paying job and a better apartment, and it improved her self-worth.” With her newfound self-confidence, Mr. Ingram said, his mother became a leader in the neighborhood, the go-to person for many organizations and causes. “Forsyth Tech is a door opener for a lot of people,” he said. “It provides a path for people who can’t afford further education. I don’t mind knocking on doors for Forsyth Tech. Who in their right mind can refuse you when you show them what Forsyth Tech is doing for our community?” Don deBethizy, co-chair of the Momentum Campaign and now a Forsyth Tech trustee, is another whose personal experience informs his passion for drumming up support for the community college. “I grew up very poor,” he said. “Both my father and his father were house painters. Every year my parents would take out a loan from Household Finance, at 18 percent interest, to pay for Christmas. I tried to take over the family budget when I was 9. “There were people along the way who helped me and invested in me, and that’s all I want to do. I really believe that people who are trying to improve their lives through their own efforts deserve our attention.” In its own way, he said, the current recession is turning out to be the means to a better life for many people in Forsyth and Stokes counties. “People who are getting laid off from dead-end jobs are coming to Forsyth Tech in droves,” he said. “That’s exactly what you would hope for, that people who are not skilled for our changing world are learning new and relevant skills. I am just so proud of Forsyth Tech’s ability to be responsive.”

“I wish I had done this right out of high school.” That’s a common sentiment among Forsyth Tech degree program students, where 29 is the average age. It’s a statement echoed by Kimberly Deal, a 32-year-old student in the medical sonography program, and Tammy Joy Ward, a 39-year-old recent graduate of the paralegal technology program. These older students tend to be highly motivated and to have a clear understanding of why they want a college degree. And in many cases what allows them to pursue an associate’s degree is a scholarship. Tammy Joy Ward had recently moved to North Carolina when she heard Sue Marion, Vice President of the Division of Corporate and Continuing Education, speak at a small-business seminar. “She really inspired me,” Tammy Joy said. “I was new to the area, and she made me realize what a good school Forsyth Tech is.” Tammy Joy had worked at a software development company in California for 10 years, and had considerable experience in office work and sales, but that didn’t allow her to find a job here. “No one returns your phone calls when you have no education,” she said. One reason she wanted to earn a degree was to set a good example for her sons, ages 5 and 10. Another was to be able to buy a nice home and car. Tammy Joy received the Lucent Technologies Pioneers Scholarship, which gives priority to single parents, and she also had a work-study assignment in the president’s office for two years. Getting her degree was difficult, at her stage of life, but she graduated on time and was proud to have her sons see her march across the stage. She’s now working for an accounting firm. Kimberly Deal also said that working, going to school full time, and taking care of a family is challenging. “Medical sonography is a very competitive and rigorous program. They only accept 10 students a year,” she said. “I really work hard to keep my grades up. I also work on weekends, as a phlebotomist at Forsyth Medical Center. ” Kimberly’s husband works two jobs, and their 7-year-old son is enrolled in a Christian school. The scholarship she has received for two years is given by St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, and is awarded to students in nursing or allied health programs. Without that financial help, Kimberly said she would not be able to go to school full time. “The scholarship pays for everything I need for school,” she said. “I wish I had done this right out of high school. It’s more challenging to do it now, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

The

Pos

sibl

e D

ream

A Cause That Hits Home

Tammy Joy Ward, Forsyth Tech GraduateThomas Ingram, Forsyth Tech Foundation Board Member



If you have never taken a class or a course or a degree program at Forsyth Tech, it’s a virtual certainty that someone in your family or on your block or at your workplace received training at our community college. And if you have been a patient in a local hospital, you can be sure that some of the people who cared for you are Forsyth Tech graduates. “Forsyth Tech touches just about every person in the county,” said Nancy Dunn, a member and past president of the Foundation board. “I’ve taken Excel and CPR and things that I can’t even remember.” “It’s interesting, the connections people have,” said President Gary Green. “So many people have taken continuing education classes here, and computer skills, or maybe had to go to traffic school. The connections are more widespread than people realize. For most people it’s true that at some time, in some way, Forsyth Tech has added value to them.” Those connections are evident in the gifts and endowments made to Forsyth Tech’s Foundation. A recent major donation from V.B. Lougee is an example. Mr. Lougee chose to honor his wife and

to support certified nursing assistant students through the Dorothy L. Lougee Nursing Assistant Program. Mr. Lougee was born in Durham, and his wife, Dorothy, was born in Hickory. He spent much of his career in New York, and retired as CEO and President of American Brands, which is headquartered there. The couple then moved to Bermuda Run to be near their daughter. “My wife has been in a nursing home for three years, and CNAs have been very important to her care,” Mr. Lougee said. “She’s as sharp as when we got married, and if new CNAs need help, she helps them.” Mrs. Lougee was a registered nurse herself and trained at the old Watts Hospital in Durham. Mr. Lougee’s mother was also a nurse who was trained at Watts, which had the first nurses training program in the state. “That was a pretty good reason for endowing a nursing program,” he said. And he had a very good reason for choosing to fund the entry-level program. “A lot of people don’t have enough money to start on their education,” he said. “If they can get a scholarship to start, then they can get a job and make enough money to go to the next level, if they want to and have the dedication. If somebody is motivated, they can do it, if they are given a start.”

V. B. Lougee, Donor, Dorothy L. Lougee Nursing Assistant ProgramNancy Dunn, Forsyth Tech Foundation Board Member



Like many of her students, Dr. Kristin Redfield didn’t like the English courses she took in high school, and didn’t see much point in them. “I’m a math and science person,” she says. Nevertheless, she’s been teaching English at Forsyth Tech for a dozen years, and she’s very good at it. She’s a recipient of the David C. Kepple Memorial Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, and she’s been a finalist in the college’s annual Excellence in Teaching Award. And there’s no doubt she brings something extra to such courses as Expository Writing, Professional Research and Reporting, and British Literature. That something extra is the streamed video lectures she creates for the use of her students—both in online courses and in traditional classrooms. Forsyth Tech has been a state leader in the number of online courses offered, and Kristin Redfield has been one of the pioneers. She received support from the Forsyth Tech Foundation when she pursued doctoral studies in distance learning, and for traveling to conferences on the subject. Most recently, she received a Foundation grant to obtain the technology needed to teach using iPod Touch and the associated peripherals. That project came in under budget, and she returned the unused funds to the Foundation. What difference does it make to her students? For online courses, it means they can get to know the teacher. “A large number of students have something they can play videos on,” she said. “Students want to see the teacher, and what they get is a video alternating between PowerPoint slides and me, like a news show. My students can carry me around in their back pocket.” And whether they are taking a class online or on campus, students have the advantage of being able to listen to the material over and over again, until they have really absorbed it. “I have seen an improvement in grades,” said Kristin, who is known for being open to new ideas that will improve learning and comprehension, and enable students to succeed. At Forsyth Tech, as at virtually all colleges, many students are not really prepared for college-level work, she said. “Without babying them, if there is something we can do to help pull them along, we should do it. I think students need this, and it’s the kind of thing that will keep Forsyth Tech in the forefront. This is part of what it means to be learner focused.”

Dr. Sharon B. Covitz, known throughout the community as Shari, holds dual positions at Forsyth Tech. She is Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the Foundation. She’s not only responsible for all fundraising activities, but also oversees community relations, marketing and public relations, alumni relations, special events, grants and the Momentum Campaign. And like all good development professionals, she takes a leadership role in many community organizations, including Leadership Winston-Salem, the Stratford Rotary Club, the YWCA, and both the Women’s Fund and the Women’s Council, among others. No wonder the Triad Business Journal presented her with a Women in Business Award this year. Characteristically, Shari gives the credit for the $30 million raised since she took on the challenge of reactivating Forsyth Tech’s Foundation to donors and the people who serve on the Foundation board. “When you get concerned people like that working with community leaders, you can do anything,” she said. Those donors and leaders, however, are extravagant in their praise for the Foundation head who is known for writing personal thank-you notes to individuals who contributes to the Foundation, in any way, in any amount. “Shari is such a wonderful lady,” said V.B. Lougee, a major donor. “She takes you on a tour, and she knows all the instructors and a lot of the students.” “In recruiting board members, it helps that the Foundation is extremely well run,” said Nancy Dunn, a member of the board. “Very few funds raised are used for administration. Shari and the other staff members make it easy to serve on the board.”

William Shakespeare Meets the iPod

The Face of the

Foundation

Dr. Shari Covitz, Forsyth Tech Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of The Foundation of Forsyth Tech

Dr. Kristin Redfield, Instructor, with her sons Caison and Preston

evolved. I hear some people say they won’t take yoga because they think it is a religion. It isn’t, but it can be described as moving meditation.

Is that why people take your classes, to learn to meditate?

Some know it as a way to meditate, but people usually start for the physical benefits. It’s a great way to stretch, build strength, relax and learn how to breathe. We Americans breathe totally incorrectly, in our upper chests. Our bodies are designed to breath into the belly. Very few people I start working with have healthy breathing patterns.

What are the benefits of breathing correctly?

Your body functions better when you get enough oxygen. All your blood cells need oxygen to operate at an optimal level. Just paying attention to your breath takes you into your body and takes you into the moment. It’s an exercise in being present, because you have to think about what you are doing. You have to be present in the body.

Teresa, how did you discover yoga?

While I was still a police officer, I started teaching aerobics and step classes, and I did some personal training. I went to a fitness conference with a friend, and I took a yoga class there.

Back up a minute! You were a police officer?

Yes. After high school I was going to be a nurse, but there were no openings in the nursing program at Forsyth Tech. They talked me into taking law enforcement courses. Actually, I had thought about becoming a police officer, but I didn’t really think it was possible. There were not many women officers then.

So teaching yoga is a second career for you?

Yes. I was hired as a cadet by the Winston-Salem Police Department while I was a student, and I retired as a captain in narcotics and vice in 2003, after 29 years on the force.

OK, so you happened to take a yoga class. What was that like?

It was a profound experience. I felt so different and refreshed. When I got back from the confer-ence there were no classes I could afford, so I bought some videotapes and developed my own practice. Then I decided to become certified to teach. There is a lot involved in certification, at least 300 hours of class time, not counting the work I did on my own.

Where did yoga originate?

Yoga is thousands and thousands of years old, and it was a Hindu practice. Over the years it

spread, and many versions have

What made that first experience of yoga so profound for you?

It’s hard to put into words, but some-thing happens within your body. Not everybody experiences it in the first class. To do yoga, you need to let go of compari-son and competition, with your neighbors and with yourself. You get into your body.


a pocket full of posesAn Interview with Teresa Hicks

Yoga Instructor in the Division of Corporate and Continuing Education

Teresa was hired by the Winston-Salem Police Department while she was a student at Forsyth Tech.

Take It From Tech Take It From Tech


You play with the poses to see where your edge is—the place where you can feel the stretch or strengthen- ing, but where going further would be a challenge and take you into the harm zone. You can take these principles into the rest of your life.

I’ve heard many people say that yoga is much more than a physical exercise.

Yoga works on the physical, emotional and spiri-tual levels. That’s the wonderful thing about it. It brings up your energy level. I’ve had people who had a powerful emotional release doing yoga. It opens the heart. If that is what happens, that’s what needs to happen. When I see it happening, I take special care of that person, so they can let the stuff come out that they don’t need anymore.

Do you need to be physically fit to do yoga?

No. Yoga is good for people of any age, in almost any physical condition. For pregnant women, the breathing exercises give you more comfort and prepare you for birth. It’s very good for people with rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve worked with people who have MS and all kinds of physical problems, and people who are wheelchair bound. We adapt the exercises for them. I’ve taught yoga to kids, too. Of course, you should always check with your doctor if you have any doubt about starting physical exercise.

I’ve heard of all these different types of yoga. What kind do you teach?

Around here, we do a blend, and each teacher has his or her own blend, unless they say they are teach-ing just one type, like hatha yoga. I adapt the blend based on the students.

Has anything from your career as a police officer helped in your yoga practice?

I learned a lot of determination and patience— patience with myself and others.

I know you never stop learning from yoga, but what are the benefits for you now?

I feel deeply peaceful at the end of a practice. It’s almost an out-of-body experience. At the end, I feel all is well, I can handle anything.

Just one more thing. What do we wear?

Comfortable stretchy clothes. And you have to be barefoot. Your feet need to feel the earth; it’s part of grounding.

Phot

ogra

phed

at R

eyno

lda

Gard

ens

“I

Daniel is currently a detective with the Winston-Salem Police Department. In the Army, he worked as an MP near Seattle, Washington, thinking that would help him land a job in law enforcement when his two years were up. He was right. After his Basic Law Enforcement Training at Winston-Salem’s Police Academy, he joined the force. He pursued continuing education classes at Forsyth Tech, but it was always on his mind to get that degree. Three semesters ago, Daniel started taking classes toward that goal. He is seeking at least a two-year degree, probably an Associate in Science to be transferred. “I’m leaning toward an emphasis in the area of

computer science, but I’m very interested in DNA studies, so I’m also looking at science courses like Chemistry,” he said. He intends to stay in police work. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing right now. I enjoy doing investigation work. I’m in the burglary section of the criminal investigation division, and I work at in-depth investigations.” Also, he continues to work toward his degree, getting courses like Political Science, Anthropology, Algebra, Statistics and Communications under his belt. He’s impressed with the level of professionalism exhibited by all his professors and doesn’t rule out the possibility of one day becoming an instructor in some capacity.

n college, I took one criminal justice course and I was hooked,” says Renarde Earl, Director of Campus Police. When Renarde went to college, he was focused on getting a degree in business, so the switch to the world of criminal justice was as much a surprise to him as to anyone else. “When I graduated from Carver High School and went to college at NC Central University in Durham, I never thought I’d be back in Winston-Salem to live,” he says. That first course changed all that. After graduation with a degree in criminal justice, a job offer from the Winston-Salem Police Department set him on his way. Not one to shy away from trying new things, he left the Department after four

years to be an insurance investigator for about a year. Renarde says he enjoyed the work, but adds, “There was just something about police work that I couldn’t get out of my system.” When he returned to life as a police officer, he did it on the campus of Wake Forest University. Renarde credits these early experiences on the city police force and at Wake Forest with honing his skills, knowledge and insight to where they are today. As a man who is always looking ahead, he realized that his ultimate goal was to manage and run his own department. Soon Forsyth Tech provided him with the opportunity, and for the last 7 1/2 years, Renarde has lived that reality. Since settling into his position, he has overseen much change: new police cars; new weapons; all paperwork done electronically; and training materials updates, to name a

few. He is also proud to point out that Forsyth Tech was the first community college in North Carolina to start a Rape Aggression Defense Program, self-defense classes geared toward women. In 2007, his department received the first Department of the Month award. “My job is to make sure all the campuses are as safe as possible. It’s not easy, but we strive to do it every day. We have a great department, and I would put us up against any other campus police agency. I try to send out something each week to thank my staff for the job they did the previous week, for the things they are expected to do, yes, but also the small things I notice that they do just because they have pride in their jobs.” Renarde has earned the reputation of being fair among his employees, students and staff. It only takes a short walk around campus with him to see that this reputation comes with a large dose of respect and admiration as well.

A Heroic Response

Off campus, Chief Earl is on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and is the Vice Chair of the Human Relations Commission for Winston-Salem.

His ability to see and value the big picture is one of the reasons he succeeds in keeping his department on the cutting edge. He is now eyeing department accreditation by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. “We would be the first community college in North Carolina to do this. I’m not a wait-and-see kind of guy. I want to make a mark for Forsyth Tech campus police, setting a standard for excellence,” Renarde said.

He balances this broader view with attention to what he considers the foundation of his success, his family. He points out the picture of his wife, Teresa, and his 5-year-old daughter, Rhyan. You can tell he is a family man. His voice completely goes soft as he offers up that Rhyan will enter kindergarten this year. He is also active in his church, St. Peter’s World Outreach Center, where he supervises the security team.

Aiming High


Who Works Here Who Goes Here

Forsyth Tech Student,Winston-Salem Police Detective

His first community college experience was one semester at Rockingham Community College after high school, but he decided to join the Army instead of continuing. Although 10 years passed, the idea never left him that he wanted a degree. “I knew it would help me in my career, but it was more than that, it was a personal goal,” Daniel says.

Director, Campus Police

decided I wanted to finish what I started,” Daniel Clark said when asked what led him to Forsyth Tech. It turns out that finishing what he starts is a theme in his life.

Last October, he and his supervisor, Sgt. Mickey Hutchens, responded to a call and went in pursuit of the suspect. The chase led them straight into an ambush. The assailant shot Hutchens and then shot Daniel twice. Daniel fired back, killing the assailant and probably saving more lives. Hutchens died five days later. Daniel recovered, having learned how quickly life can change. He went on to experience one of life’s ultimate highs six months later. He and his wife Laura welcomed their first child. “There’s nothing like seeing the birth of your baby,” he said. “It’s incredible, life changing – definitely.” They named the baby Sophia Grace. “We added Grace to her name because we feel that it was by God’s grace that I’m here to see her,” says Daniel. He hasn’t quite been able to manage the low profile he prefers. He was nominated as a first responder hero for the America’s Most Wanted 2010 All Stars. After a nationwide vote, Daniel won—$10,000 and a trip to a NASCAR race, where he was honored.

“I


Technically Speaking


Y

Technically Speaking

Well Rounded:

Conversation Pieces: Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Listen Here

Life Sciences Instructor Andy Salandy used to ask his students for feedback, and what he would often get was, “I really hate Biology.” “For them it was the lesser of three evils,” he said. “They had to take either Physics, Chemistry or Biology to meet the requirements for a degree.” Last year he took a professional development class called Conversation Pieces: Don’t Shoot the Messenger. “As instructors, I see us as messengers,” he said. “Sometimes the message gets misconstrued. Science itself is challenging, and students sometimes think it’s a matter of the teacher being difficult. For instance, if I’m talking about photosynthesis, students need to understand the concept. For some of them, that seems too complicated, and too much to remember.” The solution, he said, is to put the subject matter in the context of things that interest and matter to the students. The solution is to keep the classes interactive and interesting, and when the subject is biology—the science of life—there are a lot of things to which he can relate the subject matter. Since taking the class, he said, “I’m more aware of my audience. I’ve always been a question asker, and now I pose my questions in terms of what the students are interested in. And I’m a better listener, more mindful of my audience.”

Incivility: Opportunities for Building Alliances and Community Among Students and Faculty

A Rude Awakening

Greg Chase spent 27 years in the U.S. Air Force. That didn’t prepare him for being the Human Resources Director at Forsyth Tech. In contrast to an organization in which everybody operates out of the same field manual and abides by the same set of rules, he said, a community college is wide open in terms of what people perceive as right and appropriate language and behavior. In his position, he often hears concerns, complaints and even grievances from faculty, staff and students. When people of different generations, who come from vastly different backgrounds and who act out of different beliefs and assumptions, try to communicate, a certain amount of conflict is inevitable. To be able to manage these difficult encounters better, Greg took a professional development course called Incivility: Opportunities for Building Alliances and Community Among Students and Faculty. The class was very helpful, he said. Instead of seeing some remark or situation as simply out of line, he now sees an opportunity to engage with a person in a constructive way. If a student has come out with some offensive language, for example, faculty and staff members can act as mentors. They can help the student understand how what comes out of his or her mouth affects other people, instead of just imposing punishment and criticism. The class, he said, was about “knowing how to engage others so that we don’t shut people down.” “You have to be open to some pretty outrageous statements. Once you understand, you can effect positive change,” Greg said. More often than not, he said, people are not trying to be difficult, disrespectful or insulting. More often than not, people mean well, but just don’t realize how they are coming across.

Why Does My Body Hurt?

Pain Management When Tonya Oakley took a professional development class taught by two Forsyth Tech massage therapy faculty members, she found out at least one reason why sitting at her computer was literally a pain. Her desk chair couldn’t be adjusted to align with her computer table. One of the lasting effects of that short course in Why Does My Body Hurt? was that Tonya went out and bought a chair that can be lowered and raised. A better understanding of ergonomics was just one thing that Tonya, a radiography instructor, learned that day. Much of the class was aimed at showing participants how they could ease pain and stress with simple movements and exercises during the workday. “We got up and did some exercises you can do without taking up a lot of space,” she said. “We also learned that you should get up from your desk and move around every hour.” Something she hadn’t known about before was how to massage pressure points in her head, hands and arms. All in all, she said, the class made her more aware of her posture, and how the way she sits and moves, or fails to move, contributes to tension and discomfort. It also made her aware that aches and pains go with the territory for knowledge workers. The class was booked solid.

ou might expect an institution that is the embodiment of a commitment to lifelong learning to extend that commitment to its own employees—and you would be exactly right. All full-time staff and faculty at Forsyth Tech have had three days of the year devoted to professional development, and this year such training will be offered on four days of the year. In recent years, training has ranged from personal wellness classes in cooking, Zumba, meditation and weight loss to technical and job-related training in Second Life, Twitter, Word 2007 and Dealing with Difficult People, to all-school sessions in such subjects as Interaction Skills for Success. Increasingly, faculty and staff are asking for training that will help them do their jobs better, and President Green is intentionally connecting development training to the strategic goals that have been set forth for the college after an intense and inclusive process. Here are some comments from participants in recent classes:

Forsyth Tech EmployeesNever Stop Learning

Horticulture: Spring Gardening

Plant Parenthood

When History Instructor Allen Pinnix came home one day early this summer, he found that the Ardmore Garden Council had posted a sign in his yard: Outstanding Garden of the Week. “I just love my garden,” he said. Since moving to the Ardmore neighborhood eight years ago, he’s planted hydrangeas, hostas, ferns, lilies, 26 rose bushes and many more rare ornamental plants. He’s gone for an English cottage effect, with some shrub or vine or hardy perennial in bloom in every month from January to December. So when Horticulture: Spring Gardening was offered as a professional development elective, it was an easy choice. “I wanted to find out about our horticulture program here,” he said. “And I wanted to broaden my ideas. You get caught up in your own ways of doing things. It’s good to hear what other people have to say, and I like to hear about what other people have in their gardens.” Mainly though, he just can’t get enough of gardening and garden lore. “It’s like a diabetic in a candy store—you will always find things you like.” Allen’s great-grandmother was a great gardener, and he has Master Gardeners among his friends, but most of his knowledge has come from books. Even though he would be considered an advanced gardener and the class he took was aimed at a more general audience, he found it valuable. Having the face-to-face interaction, and seeing the actual plants, made for a satisfying experience. “It was just interesting,” he said, “a good general garden talk for beginners and advanced gardeners.”

Mechanical Engineering

Spring/Summer 2010 I www.forsythtech.edu I 2322 I www.forsythtech.edu I Spring/Summer 2010

Mechanical Engineering

The Cardboard Boat Regatta has been a Forsyth Tech tradition for more than 30 years. Mechanical Engineering Technology students apply what they have learned in their program of study to designing, engineering and building craft that can withstand a quarter-mile water course. The only materials permitted are single-ply card-board, duct tape, liquid nail adhesive and waterproof paint. This year’s Regatta was held on April 23 at Belews Lake.

duct tape Won’t fix that. The Locomotive Train, built by the Tom and Jerry Construction Company, consisting of Jerry Tucker and Tom Atkinson, had the look of a winner. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Regatta. The wind blew up and took the top right off the boat. Even so, the maimed craft made it out to the buoy and back, completing the course.

that hope-y, change-y thing. Jeffrey Hauser Jr., Tyler McKinney Jr. and Louis Aiello originally called their boat Hopeless. But after they had incorporated 35 sheets of cardboard and four rolls of duct tape, and spent a handsome $197, they seem to have had a change of heart, and the Hopeless became the Hopeful. And in spite of its rather plain appearance, the Hopeful proved to be one of the most seaworthy entries in the Regatta.

nascar, eat your heart out. Tommy Lemons and Terry Witherspoon put race car style and

spirit into TnT 27. This contender sports seven cans of neon spray paint.

Welcome to the fold. The secret of Angular, the entry of Rei Kawamura and Doug Sellars, is the ancient art of origami. The students used these paper-folding techniques to avoid using small pieces of cardboard. That, in turn, made their craft easier to waterproof.

the Wheels on the boat Go round and round. One of the most striking designs among the nine boats that competed was The Wheel Boat, by Team Tinker Tank, with Jose Cruz and Bill Moore.

it’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s a boat. Students Wally Wallace and Rodney Clark both have aeronautical backgrounds, so they designed their boat to look like an airplane. Todd Bishop, who is both the Strength of Materials course instructor and the coordinator of the Mechanical Engineering Technology program, noted that they used cardboard in just the way aircraft engineers would use metal in their intricate design.

Forsyth Tech at Fifty


Forsyth Tech at Fifty

This Is Where You Come In… What do you remember about the early years of Forsyth Tech? A dynamic instructor? A life-changing course? Some now-obsolete equipment? A fashion trend? An unforgettable menu item? Share your memories and photographs (with identifying information) with Tech Quarterly. We’ll choose many of them for a special commemorative issue of the magazine in Fall 2010 and in a special section on the college website. Send stories and pictures to Martha Murphy, The Bloom Agency, 939-A Burke Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101 or email to [email protected].

of Service to Our Community

a year to celebrate

a H a l f

C e n t u r y

2010-2011


the startinG lineup Bookmark www.ForsythTech.edu for more events that celebrate Forsyth Tech’s first 50 years. And be sure to check out the special 50th anniversary section of the site, where we will be adding video reminiscences from Forsyth Tech alumni and retirees, historic photographs, a list of 50 Facts about Forsyth Tech and a few surprises.

September scitech lecture: dr. frank torti As part of the 50th Anniversary SciTech Series, Dr. Frank Torti of Wake Forest University Health Sciences Comprehensive Cancer Center will speak on “Advancing Cancer Treatment through Technology Innovation.”

OctOber diXie classic fairForsyth Tech will be a major sponsor of the Dixie Classic Fair with five booths in the Exhibition Hall, showcasing the Richard Childress Race Car Technology Show Car, a Pit Crew Challenge and interactive displays by many of the College’s departments.

online auctionYou’re sure to find something you want at the online auction to raise funds for The Foundation of Forsyth Tech. Check out the items and place your bids all through the month at www.ForsythTech.edu.

50th anniversary lecture: edWin black As part of the 50th Anniversary Speaker Series, New York Times best-selling author Edwin Black will talk about his novel, Nazi Nexus, that addresses America’s corporate connections to the Holocaust. Sponsored by the Blynn Holocaust Collection, free and open to the public.

50th anniversary lecture: dr. mark WainberGThe SciTech Series continues with Dr. Mark Wainberg of McGill University, past president of the International AIDS Society and internationally known AIDS researcher. He will speak on “The

Benefits of 25 Years of HIV Research on Laboratory Technology and Human Health.”

NOvember scitech lecture: stephen burke More SciTech talk from Stephen Burke, CEO, NC Biofuels Center. His topic is North Carolina Biofuels.

jaNuary richard childress dinner Richard Childress, benefactor of the school’s Race Car Technology program, will be honored at a dinner hosted by the Foundation of Forsyth Tech. Call 734-7521 for ticket information. scitech lecture: dr. frank carverDr. Frank Carver, Coordinator, Environmental Sciences, Forsyth Tech, will speak on “Environmental Health Science Curriculum Development in Liberia, West Africa.”

februaryscitech lecture:dr. anthony atalaDr. Anthony Atala, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will speak on Regenerative Medicine: New Approaches to Healthcare.

marchscitech lecture:dr. J. donald debethizyDr. J. Donald deBethizy, CEO of Targacept, will speak on “The Targacept Story: From the Bench to the Clinic.”

aprilbenefactors plaque dedicationNew additions to the Benefactors Plaque in Ardmore Hall will be unveiled in a public ceremony.

scitech lecture: life after techGraduates of Forsyth Tech’s Biotechnology program will speak on “Tech Life Post Graduation.”

2 0 1 0

2 0 1 1

That was then

This is now

A picture of Forsyth Tech in any year, from 1960 to 2010, is always a reflection of what skills are in demand in the local job market, what technology is current (and what hair styles are in fashion).

Like everything at Forsyth Tech, the completion of the Alumni Oval on the Main Campus was accomplished with the support of dozens of people in the college community and the business community. It is only fitting that this new gathering spot has been chosen for the kickoff of a year of events and celebrations to mark Forsyth Tech’s 50th anniversary. The festivities will begin at 2 p.m. on September 14, and will include a proclamation by Councilman Dan Besse, music and refreshments. Y’all come!

Shall We Gather at the Oval?

Building Success


F

Building Success

When Wesley Hutchins, Dean of Health and Emergency Services at Forsyth Tech, assumed his current position 14 years ago, his predecessor’s parting words were, “You know, the number one goal for the future is a state-of-the-art firefighting training center.” Wesley took those words to heart, and the torch was passed to him.


if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. In one room of the Burn Building, the computerized kitchen prop allows trainees to observe a fire centered on a stove from its start-up to five min-utes out. It doesn’t take long after your ears begin to burn to figure out that the coolest air is on the floor!

neighbors call it the newest high-rise in king. The Burn Building lets students experience a variety of firefighting scenarios in high-rise buildings as well as residential structures under controlled burn conditions determined by the instructors. Controlled burn scenarios come in several forms. The scenario may be a computer-ized fire simulation, such as the full-size kitchen prop, or bales of hay and wooden pallets set on fire in one of the burn rooms.

“an apartment’s on fire and there’s somebody in there!” This situation won’t be new to students who train at ESTC. Students will experience negotiating multiple flights of stairs and smoke-filled rooms with blocked entrances and exits with 75 pounds of gear, air packs and equipment. And that follows hooking up hoses at fully operational hydrants and laying them back to the fire in the Burn Building at a distance of 75 to 100 feet away. For even more realism, all this may be done while breathing through respirators with 30-minute air supplies, which dwindle down to 15 minutes under extreme exertion.

intensity and repetition are what it’s all about. Day or night, through the computerized and manually operated props, students can be placed in all levels of fire containment and rescue situations throughout the complex. The day of staged firefighting using old houses and vacant buildings is over. Back then, the structure was set on fire and it was gone, a one-shot chance for practice. Now, firefighter trainees fight the fire in the concrete, brick and steel Burn Building, debrief and then do it all over again.

First Responders Now Have a First-RateTraining Center

fires under controlled situations. The Drill Tower is designed for practice with sprinklers, standpipe operation and rappelling, to name a few. The complex also contains a vehicle extrication pad for practice in rescuing a victim from a car crash and a 50-foot, confined space tower for practicing fire extinguishing and victim rescue. Even though the ESTC is built for intense firefighter training, there is great potential for creating scenarios for law enforcement and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) training. The training uses are limited only by the imagination.

or many years, Forsyth Tech was a strong player in the educational component of all types of emergency training, but any hands-on firefighting training had to be done off-site in one of the region’s existing training centers. Six years after Wesley took the helm, he was given the go-ahead to form a committee to study the best practices and ideas of training centers around the region, including Surry, Gaston, Guilford and Central Piedmont community college firefighting programs.

Although there is a bit of good-natured rivalry among the regional firefighting training

center staffs, there is also a brotherhood. Existing centers stepped up to share

lessons learned, good and bad, with the Forsyth Tech committee. In April, af-

ter much planning and hard work, the Emergency Services Training Center (ESTC) was unveiled at the Northwest Forsyth Center. A five-story Drill Tower and six-story Burn Building are key components of the ESTC complex. The Burn Building is a maze of rooms where instructors can set

Wesley Hutchins teaches students from a real-world perspective. He has been a member of the Walkertown Fire Department for 35 years and its Chief for the past seven years.

Where 911 Goes to Learn


Building Success


Building Success

When you are involved in a traffic accident, what are the odds that your car will land upright, and rescuers will be able to open your door and assist you? In se-rious accidents, the chances are high that something will block rescuers from treating you or getting you out. Thankfully, today’s responders have piston rod hydraulic tools such as cutters, spreaders and rams to get access to victims. These tools are also used in other disaster events like earthquakes where there is widespread collapse of all kinds of structures. They provide the strength to get jobs done and get them done quickly when time is of the essence. On the vehicle extrication pad at the ESTC, instructors can create a car accident victim extrication scenario by pushing a wrecked car against the guardrail and instructing students on us-ing the Holmatro extrication tool, similar to the Jaws of Life, to free the victim—in this case a crash dummy. The Holmatro tool has been chosen by the Secret Service to travel withPresident Obama’s motorcade.

State-of-the-Art Equipment

coming spring 2011—forsyth tech firefighter academy. The curriculum for the Academy will consist of two 20-week sessions for 20-25 participants. Upon graduation, participants will be prepared for state certification, which requires classroom work and hands-on performance. The classes will be geared toward the individual career firefighter, groups trained as teams from different municipalities and volunteer firefighters. In the U.S., about 80 percent of firefighters are volunteers and 20 percent are career.

The centralized location of the Northwest Forsyth Center has been a stimulus for working together and the pooling of resources, which works to the advantage of all departments. Often firefighters, law enforcement and EMS professionals work together in the field, and now they can practice the coordination needed to react quickly in emergencies where interaction is beneficial. Each branch of emergency services can see the other responders in action and see how they get things done. These networking opportunities give everyone a better grasp of the big picture, which inevitably leads to a better outcome. At the Northwest Forsyth Center, there is a palpable sense of unity among the staff, and you get the feeling that this campus is in the right hands. They see their mission as one of leadership with quality results in all areas of emergency training. It has been a long time coming for many, but the bottom line is that this campus, with its new ESTC component, is a win-win for Forsyth Tech students and staff, nearby communities and the entire region.

it’s a towering achievement. There’s no substitute for the training students get in the Drill Tower with its enclosed stairwells, industrial ladders and elevator shafts as props for various timed training sessions. In the sprinkler control room, students become familiar with mock-ups of standpipes to learn how to control sprinkler systems in commercial buildings. The entire complex has its own hydrant system, just one example of the high level of realism.

think of it as a classroom on steroids. Students are in class one day and practicing what they learned right away in a realistic set-ting. They get immediate feedback and coaching from instructors who are able to control props and watch student performance from adjacent rooms or balconies. The design of all the struc-tures includes the goals of intense instructor/student interaction and good vantage points for instruction, demonstration and follow-up.

firefighters and ems workers from forsyth and stokes counties and other guests heard Forsyth Tech President Gary Green speak at the unveiling of the the ESTC in April. Many of the guests had long awaited the ESTC knowing the impact it would have on existing professional and volunteer firefighters, and the communities where they live and work.

is it real or is it estc? yes and yes.The committee that worked on designing the ESTCcomplex wanted to make everything as true to life as possible. Students set up rigging to learn how to get into and out of high-rise buildings. They learn rope-tying techniques and rappelling maneuvers to experience dropping 70 feet down the side of a building. They get the feel of emergency situations with alarm systems and smoke detectors going off as strobe lights flash.

S


Alumni Spotlight


Alumni Spotlight

As a professor of Spanish and Teacher Education at Salem College, Krishauna Hines-Gaither loves teaching. But she would be the first person to tell you that not all learning happens in schools.

he got some of her own best lessons from her mother, who was 16 years old and single when Krishauna was born. When Krishauna remembers her early years growing up in public housing in Winston-Salem, she doesn’t think of hunger or crime or anything people might naturally associate with poverty, she says. She thinks of what her mother taught her about work and faith. “I knew things were difficult for my mother; I knew it was a struggle for her,” Krishauna said. “She would explain those struggles. She would say, ‘I want to have a family portrait made, but I don’t have the money, so we’ll have to take a Polaroid.’ She would relate that to not having an education and to having children when you’re young. She was didactic, and she con-nected the dots beautifully.” Krishauna watched as her mother, Tangela Hines Jones, worked two jobs at nursing homes, got her GED at Forsyth Tech and earned Certified Nursing Assistant credentials. She was a member of the wedding party at her mother’s marriage to Walter Jones, when Krishauna was 10. The family came to include not only a young cousin of Krishauna’s, but a new son for her mother and stepfather, and three adopted children, siblings who would have been separated otherwise. Around the age of 10, Krishauna reestablished a relationship with her biological father, Kacie Moore Jr., who, along with her stepfather, became a positive male role model for her, “My mother has a deep, faith-based strength,” Krishauna said. “She has always believed that struggle is okay because that’s what enables you to improve your lot in life.”

As Krishauna grew up, her mother began to en-tertain the idea that her daughter should go to college, though no one in the family had done so. “She was around college-educated people for the first time, and that opened up an entirely different world to her. She would tell me about a nurse who bought her own condo or a doctor who went on vaca-tion to Jamaica. That was inspiring to me. She believed that if you had children, you should expose them to things,” Krishauna said. “And my grandmother was a housekeeper for 25 years. I would go to work with her, in Buena Vista where the doctors she worked for lived, and I grew up seeing that way of living.” Nevertheless, when Krishauna finished high school, she wasn’t interested in going to college. She got a waitress job instead. “One day a woman came in who told me she was a recruiter for USAir. She asked me if I had thought about becoming a flight attendant,” Krishauna remembers. Naturally she had not thought about that, but the recruiter encouraged her, told her what steps to take, and suggested that she take some foreign lan-guage courses, as that could be the means to a higher income with an airline. “When I enrolled at Forsyth Tech, my goal was to be a flight attendant,” she said. That changed almost immediately. In Susan Keener’s Spanish class, Krishauna had her transfor-mative moment.

“My mother has a deep, faith-based strength,”

Krishauna said. “She has always believed that struggle

is okay because that’s what enables you to improve your

lot in life.”

Krishauna’s classroom is lively and engaging.

Krishauna’s mother, Tangela Hines

Jones, was her first and best teacher.

Love of

LanguageUnlocked Her Potential

Education Was the Passport Krishauna Hines-Gaither’s world has been widening ever since she took that introductory Spanish course. During the years she taught at Forsyth Tech, she regularly took groups of students to Mexico for summer school programs. She has traveled to Cuba to research Cuban culture for the Salem College curriculum. And, in conjunction with her French studies, she has visited Paris, London and Montreal. She’s working to make sure that other African-Americans will think of teaching foreign languages as a possible career choice. With fellow linguist Tamari Jenkins, she founded an advocacy group called the Organization of African-American Linguists. One of the organ-ization’s first initiatives was to establish a scholarship fund for college students majoring or minoring in a foreign language. To date, eight $1,600 scholarships have been awarded. She also serves as president of the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina, which promotes opportunities for students at all educational levels to develop a high level of confidence in at least one language in addition to their own. She received her first college scholarship from this organization, and her service to it now is one way she is doing her part to see that minority students have access to opportunities to learn world languages.

The Foundation

How You Can Support

Forsyth Tech


Alumni Spotlight

“I thought, this is it! I loved it so much I never wanted to leave the classroom. After a class or two, I told Mrs. Keener I wanted to be a teacher. When she looked at my high school transcript, she said, ‘Whoa! You never planned to go to college, did you?’ She was very honest with me. She told me it was going to take some time. At first I had to take some developmental courses.” “Susie (as she now calls Mrs. Keener) knew the zeal and ability were there. She’s a very spiritual woman, like my mother. She wasn’t doing anything; she was just being.” Mrs. Keener was very patient with her, she said, showing her the ropes, since the whole college experience was new to her. Her new mentor eventually gave her an opportunity to assist her in a lower-level Spanish class. She told her about programs available to her in Spanish-speaking countries, and, over breakfast at the K&W, walked her through the process of getting a passport. Eventually she helped her select a college, where she could earn her bachelor’s degree after receiving her associate’s degree from Forsyth Tech. Krishauna chose Salem College, and after getting her degree there, she went on to earn a master’s degree in Spanish Education from Wake Forest. She is now a doctoral candidate in the Cultural Studies program at UNC-Greensboro. She taught Spanish at Forsyth Tech for five years, before joining the faculty of Salem College five years ago. “I try to make my classroom memorable,” she said. “I see what cultural groups are represented in the class, and I try to make the learning more personal for them, by bringing in some of their background. If a student is from China, I might talk about a Chinatown in Cuba. Or if someone tells me she is an only child, I’ll remember and find a way to bring in a family element she can relate to. “I don’t have to be the authority. Students come in with valuable resources, and I never want mine to be the only voice. I incorporate other voices, from the community, from guest speakers, from films, from literature. I want to make it memorable and personal.” That’s partly because education wasn’t memorable or per-sonal for her until she got to Forsyth Tech. And it’s partly because of those voices she always carries with her, the voices of her mother and her mentor.

With learning Spanish, it was love at first sight. Recognizing her future husband took a little longer. Several years ago, Krishauna was a frequent visitor at Agape Faith Church, a truly multicultural church in Clemmons. It’s a place where there are always classes being held, for all ages and on a wide variety of subjects. A member asked if she would be willing to serve as an interpreter for the Hispanic members of one of those classes. It wasn’t long before she joined the church, and it wasn’t long before she struck up a friendship with a teacher of the class, Julian Gaither. “I didn’t see him romantically. He was a nice friend,” she said. He did see her romantically, right from the start, and she said, “After two years it just blossomed.” They have been married for almost three years.

“When I enrolled at Forsyth Tech, my goal was to be

a flight attendant,” she said.

Both Bryce and Izoria Gordon went to school in Stokes County. Her fam-ily ran a country store and a mill. His father sharecropped until he had enough money to open a grocery store in Winston-Salem in 1938. Until then, the nearest school was 20 miles away, and when Mr. Gordon started school, he “ended up with just about every communicable disease.” His education was interrupted again when he was 14 years old, when both his parents were hospitalized. He temporarily dropped out of school and ran the store on his own for months. Then, when it was time for him to start high school, the school burned down, and as a result he had to drive a bus full time. “I had a poor education, and I didn’t go to college until three years after high school. And then I only went because a guy bet me I wouldn’t go,” he said. “College really did save my life,” he said. He went to Appalachian State University, then a teachers’ college, as did Mrs. Gordon. She had decided in the first grade that she was going to be a teacher. They started dating after meeting at a public square dance in Winston-Salem. At his first teaching job, Mr. Gordon saw that he wasn’t going to make a good living

that way. He got a job at Western Electric, but quickly decided the corporate life wasn’t for him. When he quit that well-paying job to go back to teaching, his father suggested that he see a psychiatrist. Both Gordons were career teachers, he teaching sixth grade and she teaching fifth. During their 30 years with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County public schools, teachers’ salaries did not support the lifestyle they wanted, including buying a house. After they

personally built a house for themselves, they saw a way to support their love of travel. From then on, they built a few houses each year and sold them; then they used the proceeds to take summers off every few years. They went to Europe many times, visited Asia and Egypt, and traveled in 49 states in their camper. They bought more than 20 acres in Stokes County, with the idea of developing it. But when they reached retirement age, they thought of a better use for the land, which is north of King. They gave it to Forsyth Tech, specifying that the college could use the land to build educational facilities or sell it. Either way, Mr. Gordon is pleased to think that their gift will benefit future students. “I feel fortunate to be able to help children who could do better in life, but don’t have the means to do so,” he said.

“I got a slow start,” said Bryce Gordon. “What success I have had, I owe to education and my wife.”

IzoriaBryce Gordon

Forsyth Technical Community College serves more than 50,000 students annually in degree, diploma and certificate programs, and continuing education courses. To make educational opportunities widely available, and to meet the needs for a well-educated, skilled workforce, Forsyth Tech depends on private contributions from people like you.

The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, a nonprofit organization, is the fundraising arm of the College. Your gift to Forsyth Tech through the Foundation will support: > Scholarships for deserving students > Technology for classrooms, labs and shops > Professional development grants for faculty and staff

Your Gift Creates a Strong College and a Strong Community

Choose your level of support:

Give online: Use your credit card to make a secure donation at www.forsythtech.edu/support/giving-to-forsyth-tech.

Send a check: Make your check payable to Forsyth Tech Foundation. Mail to The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, 2100 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC 27103-5197.

Get more information: Learn about gifts you can make in honor of or in memory of individuals, matching gifts, charitable trusts and bequests, and gifts of stocks and property. Call Dr. Sharon B. Covitz, Executive Director, The Foundation of Forsyth Tech, 336.734.7520 or email [email protected].

president’s club $10,000 and uppinnacle club $5,000 - $9,999pacesetter’s club $1,000 - $4,999directors $500 - $999leaders $250 - $499 champions $100 - $249friends up to $99

The Look of Love

daisy, daisy, Give me your answer do. This gorgeous pink gerbera daisy was captured in all its glory by Beth Hyland, secretary in the Paul M. Wiles School of Nursing at Forsyth Tech. Beth came across the plant at L.A. Reynolds Garden Showcase in Winston-Salem.

2100 Silas Creek ParkwayWinston-Salem, NC 27103-5197

46,000 copies of this document were printed at a cost of $0.54 per copy.

Non ProfitOrganization

US POSTAGE

PAIDGreensboro, NC

Permit #1068

In Focus

forsyth tech's foundation powers excellence

Documents